Urban Networks in Germany's Regional Planning Policy

Abstract

In Germany, similar to the rest of Europe, the planning of urban networks has been well-known for many centuries. However, it was in the early 1990s that the concept was introduced as a new form of planning after the market integration of the European Union. What was adopted, in a form adding to the traditional "development strategy based on central places and development axes", resulted in an epoch-making conversion of Germany's traditional Regional Planning Policy (Raumordnungspolitik). This does not mean, however, that traditional planning strategy has become outmoded and already unused, since it remains alive and with a clear definition in the 1998 Federal Regional Planning Law which also has a new emphasis on the 'sustainable development of a region'.
Nowadays, many regional problems which single communities cannot sufficently solve have increased; for example, economic uses of land, traffic problems, tourism, cultural entertainment, and so on. Therefore, corporate works between cities or regions became necessary in order to solve such regional problems. Urban networks formed 'from the bottom' by a voluntary corporation between cities were considered to be a new and effective instrument of Land and Regional Planning since they can flexibly respond to today's rapidly changing socio-economic condition. At the same time, they can assist in reducing the cost of regional planning.
Compared to other advanced countries, Germany has a highly balanced structure of settlements which has played an important role in strengthening competitive forces with other countries. In the future, the further development of the settlement structure based on decentralization can be expected through the networking of cities or regions. However, urban networks, unlike central places, cannot be developed everywhere within a state.
As shown in the "Oriented Guideline of Regional Planning Policy" the aims of urban networks are different in each of three regions. In the former West-German region, they are formed in order to unburden a central city in densely inhabited areas, on the one hand, and to increase functional efficiency by the corporation among small and medium-sized cities in rural areas, on the other hand. In the former East-German region, where central place systems are not highly developed, corporate works between cities must be introduced in spite of the difficult situation. Moreover, the development of European metropolises is necessary to strengthen competitive forces in the regions of the European Union.
In Germany, urban networks' research has been initiated and is in an experimental stage. It is expected that urban networks will be diffused to other regions of Germany after experimental research using twelve urban networks' models obtained excellent results and the law was enacted as previously scheduled.
However, there are some problems associated with urban networks. It is questionable if each aim in various urban networks can be reached by the same planning strategy. On the other hand, it is possible for the formation of urban networks to impair the fundamental principle of German Regional Planning Policy of 'living conditions of the same value' by selecting several cities from the same hierarchical order. Since firms and enterprises are not so interested in urban networks, it is doubtful that regional disparities will increase as a result of forming a new intermediate order of urban hierarchy, even if urban networks rapidly diffuse. It seems that regional development through creating urban networks will be delimited as a special category, since the latter are not formed by actual functional linkages between cities but only by the activities of agents in cities.